Toothbrush



Agg. 4, 1931. E. D. PoLLocK TOOTHBRUSH Filed April 4. 1929 more'desirable.

Patented ug. 4, ,1.931

@UNITED STATES` PATENT OFFICE EDWARD POLLOCK, OF WESTWOOD, NEW JERSEYTOOTHBBUSH y Application led April 4, 1929. Serial No. 352,337.

livered as desired to the bristle part of the brush and so to the teeth.

The object of my invention isv to improve brushes of this character andproduce a brush which is more cleanly, simplervand generally Heretoforebrushes of this l character have been made of separable parts or jointsand were objectionable because there was muchleakage at these joints,and further it was more or less -of a nuisance to adjust theparts. u n

In carrying out this idea, further, my invention is intended to roduce abrush which can be easily `and chea y made, in which there are no jointsand in W ich the liquid from the hollow handle is delivered as requiredto surfacechannels on theinner or under surface of the -brush head, andso evenly distributled to the bristles.

Furthermore, my invention comprises a cap which is siidable on the endof the honow handle and carries an air vent so that when the cap isclosed the liquid will not flow out becauseof thelack of pressure behindit, but when the cap is' removed the air vent is uncovered whichlpermits the liquid to iiow freely. The cap a o has the advantage ofacting l1ke a pum so that under certain circumstances if tiiere shouldbe clogging between the handle and the brush bristles the cap may beused to force pressure behind the liquid and thus cause it to iiow freeland so remove any impediment which may ge in the way.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming a art ofthis specification i in which similar, re erence characters refer tosimilar parts throughout the several views.

Figure 1 isa side elevation partly in sec- E a slightly modifiedconstruction.

The handle is hollow and merges into a head 11 which is integral withthe handle and both may be made in any approved design and of anypreferred material.

The head 11 is provided with tufts or bris# tles 12 which may be appliedin any usual or preferred way, and the hollow handle discharges throughreduced parts 13 to the bases of the surface channels 121 which arearranged on the inner side of the head 11 and in a mannerto distributethe liquid which flows from the handle to the bristles. Thus when theliquid is flowing, one needs simply to use the brush in the conventionalway and the cleansing liquid will always be ready. Obviously the form ofthe brush, the arrangement of the bristles and the manner of insertingthem has nothing to do with the invention. It is desirable, however, tohave the surface channels as specified and there may be one, two

or as'many as required. l

The handle 10 is open at its outer end and is closed usually by a cap 15which fits snugly over the handle and which hasv a vent 16 through whichair may pass but when the handle is not in'use the vent comes oppositethe wall of the brush and so there is no pressure at the outer end ofthe handle and the contained liquid does not flow. If, however, the' capis partially. removed air is admitted through the vent to the handle endand with the air pressurebehind it the liquid flows freely to thedistributing channels or surface of the brush.

It will be seen that in case of some slight impediment in the reducedpart 13 of the bore which leads to the brush head, the cap 15 can bepushed back and forth and will act like 4 a pump and force air pressureagainst the .contained liquid in the handle and thus force out anyimpediment.

In Figure 4 I have shown a slightly dilerent and preferred structure inwhich the outer end part of the handle is reduced as at 17 and providedwith a smooth ferrule 18, preferably of metal, and the cap 19 can also,if desired be of metal or some material which slides freely on the metaland thus a very nice connection is effected between the meeting parts 18and 19. The cap 15 has the vent 16 already7 referred to and can beprovided with a termlnal bead 20 which facilitates gripping it. Thus itwill be seen that I have produced a simple brush through which thecleansing i fluid may .flow freely and which, on the other hand, has thecap which is tight so that no liquid escapes when the brush 1s not inuse.

What I. claim is:

1. A toothbrush having a hollow handle .I

merging integrally into a head portion carrying bristles with the boreof the handle merging into a surface channel on the brush head,

and a sliding cap at the outer end of the handle.

2. A toothbrush having a hollow handle merging into a brush head withthe bore of the'handle discharging to the innerl surface of the brushhead, a'sliding cap on the outer end of the handle, and an air vent inthe handle opened and closed by the movement of the cap.

3. A toothbrush comprising a hollow handle merging into a head which isintegral with the handle with the bore of the handle discharging intochannels in the inner or bristle surface of the head, and a sliding capwith an air vent therethrough movable on the outer end of the handle.

4. A toothbrush com rising a hollow handle adapted to contain a liquidand a,

brush head, a restricted bore leading from the hollow in the handle to asurface of the brush head, an elongated cap on the outer end of thehandle and' slidable longitudinally thereof, and an air ventassociatedwith the handle and cap and spaced from the end of the. handlewhen not in use whereby movement of the cap onto the handle will firstclose the vent and thereafter cause pressure on a liquid in the handle.

i EDWARD D. POLLOCK. 'Y

